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Finally, reparations for the victims of atrocities in Chad

The day a grenade exploded at my feet should have scared me. Instead, it made me more determined. One life lost cannot erase the memory of 40,000 who per-ished during the dictatorship of president Hissene Habre in Chad. Whether it was me or someone else, I knew that one day those who were stolen from their families, tortured and beaten, would see justice.

From 1982 until 1990, Habre ruled my country of birth, Chad, after coming to power through a military coup. Through fear and intim-idation, assisted by his secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), he rounded up thousands of citi-zens, many of whom were then killed or "disappeared," until he was deposed by another coup and exiled to Senegal. It would take nearly 30 years be-fore he was brought to trial.

Prospects for Equitable Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Revisiting Sam Moyo’s Work on the Land Question

Zimbabwe’s decolonization could never be complete without addressing the land question. Sam Moyo’s work, spanning over three decades, has been a point of reference in the discussion of land policy performance, rural mobilization and trends in land reform. His work mostly focused on influencing policy, creating connections between local processes (such as land occupations), national policy and global debates. The article provides a summary of Sam Moyo’s writing on land reform policy in Zimbabwe. It highlights the complex relationships that exist between policy formulation, rural mobilization and implementation of policy. Whilst celebrating the work of an icon, the article also takes a more critical stance on outstanding issues as pertaining to the fast- track land reform process that began in 2000. The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) has not adequately resolved the land tenure question and currently faces the threat of elite capture.

New Developments in the Habré Case: Defense Appeal and Reparations under Examination

This guest post is written by El Hadji Alioune Seck, Program Associate with the International Criminal Justice Fundat TrustAfrica. The views expressed below do not necessarily reflect the views of the Open Society Justice Initiative.

On May 30, 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers within the Senegalese Courts (EAC) sentenced former Chadian President Hissène Habré to life imprisonment. The court found him guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, and sexual slavery committed between 1982 and 1990 in Chad. This decision followed a trial that officially opened in Dakar on July, 20 2015 and came to an end on February 12, 2016 with submissions of final conclusions by both parties and the final indictment by the prosecutor.

While delivering the verdict, Presiding Judge Gustave G. Kam announced that the court would initiate proceedings on reparation and compensation to victims starting May 31, 2016 through a status conference. He also announced that the court would communicate its decision by July 31, 2016 and further granted defense lawyers a 15-day period to appeal the conviction verdict.

Nearly 26 years after he was forced out of power, former Chadian president Hissène Habré has been found guilty of crimes against humanity, torture (including sexual violence) and crimes of war committed under his rule from 1982 to 1990. He has been condemned to life imprisonment by the judges of the Extraordinary African Chambers (EACs), a court specially created by Senegal upon the request of the African Union (AU). This was the first trial of its kind on the continent and years of lobbying were necessary to convince the AU and Senegal to proceed with it. In pushing Africa to bring Habré to justice, the victims and the international coalition of non-governmental organisations that have supported them have shown that Africa’s relationship to international criminal justice is far more open than the statements of some African leaders might suggest. Africa’s people demand such justice, and will pull all the necessary levers to obtain it.

Children who start school late in Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties now have a chance to catch up with their agemates. This has been due to a new curriculum which uses learning techniques that enable them to be moved to a class commensurate with their ages. The curriculum used in the Ma-drasa Early Childhood Programme, and supported by the Aga Khan Foundation and partners, enables children older than four to learn faster. It also provides basic training to parents who never went to school, which has enabled them to assist their children with homework.

Landmark trial of former Chadian President Hissène Habré takes place before the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar, Senegal

20th July, 2015, Dakar, Senegal: The trial of former Chadian President Hissène Habré, accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture, began before the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal. The alleged crimes were committed during Habré’s regime from 1982 to 1990, when an estimated 40,000 people are reported to have died or disappeared.

SRT grantee, TrustAfrica have enhanced independent coverage of the Habré trial through their International Criminal Justice (ICJ) Fund who worked closely with a consortium of civil society organizations and Senegalese law graduates. [...]

TRUSTAFRICA, a Senegal-based organisa-tion, will on Thursday evening launch Beyond the Crisis: Zimbabwe's Prospects for Transformation. The book is a gem that seeks to tackle policy alternatives the southern African nation could have pursued to avoid the quagmire that has entangled it today.Edited by Tendai Murisa and Tendai Chikweche, the book admits Zimbabwe has attracted regional and international attention over settler co-lonialism, decolonisation, independ-ence, contested land redistribution and economic collapse among other contentious issues. The late former president of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere reportedly told President Robert Mugabe when Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980; "You have inhented the jewel of Africa. Keep it that way " How ominous the words sound today when one looks back in retrospect. The socio-economic and political crises that have blighted the country since the turn of the century have deeply transformed it from the ideals of a vibrant freshly independent na-tion just two decades earlier.

The global community of development practitioners should take pride in the achievement of a consensus move from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the SDGs. The process has not been smooth. There are still disagreements regarding the priorities, and on the naming and framing of problems. Criticisms still abound on how the goals and decisions were finally made.

The SDGs will be put in place with other regionally agreed development protocols, such as the accord that emerged from the Paris Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) and global initiatives for food security and improved access to medicines.

The project director of TrustAfrica-Liberia, a pan African foundation with headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, has extended assistance to the Revival Temple Assembly of God Mission High School in Wood Camp and the Royal Christian Foundation Institute (RCFI) in the 72nd Neezoe community.

Attorney-at-Law Kanio Bai Gbala presented five bundles of zinc to both schools that were recently affected by torrential rains and heavy windstorms which damaged three schools in Electoral District#3 in Montserrado County.

The Extraordinary African Chambers: A New Approach to Victim Participation in International Criminal Tribunals?

Twenty-five years after his fall from power, former Chadian President Hissène Habré is standing trial before the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar, Senegal. The Extraordinary African Chambers (EAC) is an ad hoc chamber established within the Senegalese courts by agreement between the African Union and the government of Senegal. The mandate of the EAC is to judge those most responsible for the crimes committed in Chad between 1982 and 1990, the period of Habré’s presidency, during which an estimated 40,000 people were killed or disappeared. President Habré’s regime was marked by grave human rights violations and targeted violence against the Chadian population, notably against specific ethnic groups including the Sara, the Hadjarai, the Zaghawa, and Chadian Arabs. The charges against Habré include crimes against humanity, war crimes, and torture, and are based on the findings of a nineteen month-long investigation.

The African Grantmakers Network 3rd Biennial Assembly in July was significant because, for the first time, members covered approximately 65 per cent of the costs. The network had previously relied on external funding. That in itself speaks of a maturing sector and should be applauded.

We were also quick to respond to the criticism around our name and agreed to change it to African Philanthropy Network (APN). Some members viewed the term grantmakers as limiting, saying it excluded non-grant-making philanthropic organizations.

While millions of philanthropic dollars pour into Africa annually, billions of dollars in illicit financial flows (IFFs) leak out of the continent, mostly back to the global north. It’s like trying to fill a leaking bucket. What role can philanthropy play in stopping the leak and countering the real threat to development gains posed by IFFs?

Generally defined as ‘money that is illegally earned, transferred or used’, IFFs cost Africa an estimated $60 billion annually, according to figures from the recently released Final Report of the High Level Panel on IFFs from Africa, with another estimate putting the total over the last 30 years as high as $1.4 trillion.

UBS and the pan-African foundation -TrustAfrica, recently, launched the first report on philanthropy in Africa by wealthy Africans.

Entitled “Africa’s Wealthy Give Back”, the report is based on interviews with and survey responses from almost 100 wealthy Africans and experts from the regions of Southern, Western and Eastern Africa, with a particular focus on Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

Over the last decade and a half, ‘hopeless’ Africa has become Africa rising – at least economically. Unfortunately, this rise has carried few Africans with it. One of the biggest culprits is illicit financial flows. Moreover, democratic culture is not sufficiently strongly entrenched to enable civil society to protest effectually. What can philanthropy do to change this? Though it might seem an overwhelming challenge, it has to adopt an approach which tackles the continent’s major problems holistically – what I call a systems-wide approach.

Funding a More Equal Future: Philanthropy and Social Justice in Africa

There is no doubt that philanthropy plays an important role in society whether it involves humanitarian assistance, advocacy or grant making. However, I want to focus on anelement that is often ignored in discussions about philanthropy in Africa – the intersection between philanthropy, economics and politics and how these impact on social justice.

‘The dilemma of the poor is not about resources. It is about power. If the poor have power, they will leverage the resources needed.’Adam Habib, Vice Chancellor, University of Witwatersrand

Adam Habib’s remark, made at the 2012 African Grantmakers Network Assembly on The Role of African Philanthropy in Shifting Power from North to South, is a stark reminder to us of the need to change the way we view the relationship between resources and power. In our philanthropy world, too often power is equated with money, and the one who holds the money dictates the agenda. For philanthropic agencies, the dilemma is how to ensure that their resources are not used as tools of power and control. This article was published in Alliance Magazine on September 3, 2013.

Disasters appeal to the minds and hearts of people. Whether rich or poor, the emotional response is usually the same - people rally to hlep where they can. This is certainly the case when Haiti was struck by a violent earthquake on 12 January, resulting in the deaths of more than 200 000 people and leaving over a million homeless.